Dr. Gwyn Parry, John and Donna Crean and Michael Stephens gather for a photo during the 1999 Reach Out Awards for the YMCA at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.

Donna Crean, recipient of the "Children's Friend Award," and Patti Edwards, a National Childhelp USA board member, pose at the "For the Love of Child" Luncheon/Fashion Show at the Hyatt Regency Irvine in March 2002.

Photographer Henry DeRocco pops a photo of Andy Crean, his mother Donna Crean and Donna's grandchildren in front of her new star on the Anaheim/Orange County Walk of Stars.

Donna and John Crean's star on the Anaheim/Orange County Walk of Stars. The Creans were honored with the 10th star in 2009.

Donna Crean beams as her star on the Anaheim/Orange County Walk of Stars was unveiled in front of Disneyland in 2009.

Donna and John Crean with their great granddaughter Crystal at the Village Crean in Newport Beach. Donna Crean died Friday at her Newport Beach home at the age of 82. .

Donna Crean, known for her philanthropy in Orange County, passed away Friday at her home in Newport Beach. She was 82. In Photo, Crean and her husband, John, show off silent auction items at the Children's Bureau of Orange County's Sixth Annual Creans' Clambake in 2003.

Donna Crean, known for her philanthropy in Orange County, passed away at her home, the Village Crean in Newport Beach, with her family by her side Friday after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 82.

Her husband, John Crean, died five years ago.

“Our family is relieved that mom is now with dad,” said son Andy Crean.

The couple created The Crean Foundation in 1981. Last year alone, the foundation gave away $5 million to various charities.

Donna Crean was the driving force behind the couple’s philanthropy; children’s charities, the arts and education were her passion.

The Creans were major donors in creating the Orange County Discovery Science Center, and Newport’s Mariner’s library is named for them.

The family also made the lead gift for the building of the Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine in 2007. They donated $10 million dollars to Chapman University in 2010.

Born in 1929 in Long Beach, Donna Crean was an only child. As a young girl she enjoyed playing the violin and was voted best violinist in high school.

She also was part of the child dance group the Meglin Kiddies, which was started in 1928 by Ethel Meglin. Shirley Temple and Judy Garland were also former Meglin Kiddies.

John Crean loved telling the story of how he met his bride of 60 years, friends say.

Donna Crean first caught his eye as he was driving down the street in Long Beach and she was sitting on a bench waiting for a bus, friends recall him saying. He stopped the car to chat – she was 18 he was 23. It was love at first sight, he told friends.

They had a storybook rags-to-riches life.

Newly married, Donna Crean worked side by side with her husband, first in their venetian blind business, and later when he started Fleetwood Enterprises in 1950, building mobile homes and travel trailers.

When the children came along, she left the business world and focused on family and her faith.

Fleetwood went public in the mid 1960’s. The Crean’s sold their interests in Fleetwood in 1998.

But they never forgot their humble beginnings and had a strong belief in giving back to those less fortunate in their community, friends say.

In 2000 John Crean wrote his biography, “The Wheel and I,” cataloging the couple’s life and times.

Donna Crean will be buried alongside her husband at the Crystal Cathedral, which the couple supported for many years and where a tower bears their name.

The family will hold a private graveside service, and a Celebration of Life is planned at the Village Crean. In lieu of flowers, the family asks donations be made to Orange County Children’s Bureau and Alzheimer’s Association of Orange County.

“At the Fleetwood 50th Anniversary we were asked about our parents,” daughter Emily Crean recalled. “We said the best thing dad ever did was marry mom.”

The couple had four children, Andy, Emily, Susan and Johnnie. They had 14 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren.

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